Over the past few weeks, we, like many of you, have been outraged by the treatment of people trying to enter the United States. They have been villainized, oppressed, and treated inhumanely. We recognize that overwhelmingly, they are coming here seeking a better life.

This is an undertaking that we Jews well understand. Many of our ancestors left their homes in Europe seeking the very same thing. Luckily, in the early years, we had advocates here who saw our plight. The words of Emma Lazarus, the Jewish American writer of the poem "New Colossus," which are engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, testify not only to her advocacy for immigrants, but also to the nature of a nation whose ports were then mostly open, whose citizens' eyes could see beyond their own reflection, whose hearts could empathize with the experience of an unknown other, whose souls could recognize a high moral purpose. We should well remember the result of those doors slamming shut. Those who were turned away were doomed to gas chambers and crematoria in Europe. That fact is burned into Jewish collective memory. 

Emma Lazarus imagined the voice of the Mother of Exiles to say,

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" 

Strong borders should protect us from true enemies, true criminals, true dangers. They should not be so rigid as to prevent those fleeing impossible conditions from finding compassion. Our Jewish texts, Jewish experience and American experience clearly inform what our response should be to the ongoing crises on our borders and within our nation regarding immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. They are seeking a refuge, a new home, a safe community. Many are living among us now, raising children, working jobs, paying taxes, and are already strong threads within the tapestry of American life.

Even if laws have been violated, we cannot lose sight that we have a moral duty to see that laws are enforced with humanity, and decency. Ultimately, we will be judged by how we treat the strangers among us. Whether by educating ourselves on the issues, talking with friends and neighbors, contributing to or volunteering with immigrant aid organizations, calling or writing to elected representatives, marching, rallying, or even going to the border, please get involved. We must not stand idly by.

The writers are leaders in the Jewish community of eastern Connecticut: Rabbi Ken Alter – Congregation Ahavath Achim, Colchester; Rabbi Marc E. Ekstrand – Temple Emanu-El, Waterford; Jerry Fischer – Executive Director, Jewish Federation of Eastern CT; Rabbi Julius Rabinowitz – Congregation Beth Jacob, Norwich; Rabbi Rachel Safman – Congregation Beth El, New London; Rabbi Jeremy Schwartz – Temple Bnai Israel, Willimantic.